JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – As part of its annual GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Day celebration Nov. 14, the city of Johns Creek’s GIS team reached out to local high school teachers to make them aware of the role GIS plays in residents’ daily lives.

The team delivered 19 “care packages” (GIS-related items) to geography and computer science teachers in Johns Creek’s three high schools, Chattahoochee, Johns Creek and Northview.

The effort is the beginning of a deeper relationship that the city hopes to foster.

“We want to make it easy for our teachers to use GIS in the classroom by leveraging our expertise,” Nick O’Day, the city’s GIS manager, said. “The hope is that we can expose students to this technology early and get them interested in careers in a heavily science-based industry.”

The U.S. Department of Labor identifies GIS as a high-growth industry. The DOL’s Employment and Training Administration has found that the market for geospatial technology has grown steadily at an annual rate of almost 35 percent year over year.